A Semester Summary

As I pulled onto campus on Monday morning, it suddenly hit me just how fast these four years have gone. It seems unbelievable that in a few short months we will be thrown into the real world (or for most of my friends, into the world of grad school). We'll find new jobs, make new friends, learn new cities, move into new apartments. But not necessarily because we want to... mostly because we have to move out by 5 pm on May 22nd or they will kick us out. I find myself wavering between two groups -- Group A: the people who will be kicking, screaming and crying as their parents drag them off campus and Group B: the people who have accepted that change is inevitable and they should embrace this "exciting" time in our lives. Some days, I would like nothing more than to leave behind the Friday nights full of shrieking girls in stilettos outside my window and the horror that is 8 am classes. But on other days, I can't imagine leaving behind these people, these professors, this campus, in search of my next "thing" (this coming from the girl who never thought she would utter the words, "I really don't want to graduate...").
So instead of living in denial, I've decided to just fill this year to the brim. I was off to a good start last semester with plenty of time spent with roommates, Alex, professors, myself. I lounged on the docks (but did not jump in (Annie and Michelle did, picture below)... don't even try to dare me to... I refuse),

laughed at the fall "concert" (comedian Demetri Martin), traveled to see the Poet's House in the city with LAS (complete with a performance by Natalie Merchant), organized by our devoted president, Flor, pictured below,

watched the lanterns be launched from the new pedestrian walking bridge over the Hudson with my housemates and best friends,

spent a weekend here with Lauren (including a walk across the pedestrian bridge (well... halfway anyway)), then spent a weekend in Boston with Marisa,

then spent a weekend celebrating my sister's 30th birthday (complete with dancing with the aunties and Grandma Veet at Vapor nightclub at the Racino),

then spent a weekend in Washington, D.C. for the honors conference with Amanda and Flor,

after cramming in my last LAS Spooky Slam.

I went to the dance show, Into the Woods (starring my fabulous housemate Courteney) (the Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood are picture below),

African drumming (as Amanda demonstrates below),

and The Tragedy of Harvey Dent (a Shakespearean play written and preformed by the English capping group), starring Alexa, pictured below,

went to a packed house women's basketball game with Amanda,

and closed out the semester with our last LAS meeting, complete with Santa hats and Christmas lights.

Can you really blame me for not wanting to leave this behind? And that's just the "events." I also had fantastic classes taught by some of my favorite professors at Marist (consequently conquering C+ Sue's grading, gaining a new appreciation for film, writing some decent poetry, analyzing mine (and others') personalities, and completing my psych and global studies minors (complete with a mini capping paper/presentation about multiculturalism in Australia) and my honors requirements (minus my senior honors project -- redesigning the Marist Abroad handbook)). I became closer friends with some people and made some new friends, played intramural volleyball, made some serious money at Marist Poll and online proofreading (and had lots of fun doing it), advised future Australia-bound students, got published in The Circle, The Generator, and The Globetrotter and was co-editor of my fourth Mosaic.
This upcoming semester holds more of the same, plus a new internship (location TBD) and hopefully some job shadowing to attempt to figure out what I want to do when I grow up. I don't know exactly what the future will bring, but I know one thing for sure -- when May 22 rolls around, despite the tears I'm sure I'll shed (what would a graduation be without a red-nosed, cheek-stained Amy???), I will have made the most of my time at Marist and I'll be fully (okay, maybe not fully, but mostly) prepared for the next stage of my life.